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HOUSTON – The Houston Astros today unveiled their home schedule for the 2007 championship season, which begins at Minute Maid Park for a seventh consecutive year and at home for the 23rd time in the last 26 years. Opening Day for the Astros is set for Monday, April 2, 2007, at 6:05 p.m. versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Astros open the 2007 campaign with a six-game homestand against two National League Central foes – the Pittsburgh Pirates (April 2-4) and St. Louis Cardinals (April 6-8). Houston also closes the season at Minute Maid Park, with a three-game homestand vs. the Atlanta Braves (Sept. 28-30). Additionally, the Astros will play two exhibition games at home vs. the Kansas City Royals on Friday, March 30 (7:05 p.m.) and Saturday, March 31 (1:05 p.m.).

The schedule features three homes series vs. the Cardinals with two weekend matchups (April 6-8, June 1-3), and a midweek series (Aug. 28-30). Other key series at Minute Maid Park include four-game sets with both the Colorado Rockies (June 28-July 1) and the San Diego Padres (July 26-29); a four-game weekend set vs. the New York Mets (July 5-8); and two late-season series vs. the Chicago Cubs (Aug. 6-9, Sept. 11-13). The Astros are also home for the July 4th holiday as part of a three-game series vs. the Philadelphia Phillies (July 2-4).

Syd Thrift, a former Director of Minor League Operations for the A's, GM of the Pirates, Assistant General Manager of the Cubs, senior vice president of baseball operations for the Yankees, and a man that finished his career from 1995 to 2002 with the Orioles, died today at 77. In total Thrift was a part of the front office landscape for nearly 50 years.

He is survived by his wife, Dolly, sons Jim and Mark and five grandchildren.

20 years ago, the Orioles opened a merchandising store in the heart of Washington, DC. Now, that 20-year run will come to an end when the lease expires at the end of December.

The Orioles' Farragut Square store will shut down, and in some senses, provide a victory for fans of the return of MLB to Washington, DC. It was well documented that Orioles owner Peter Angelos was very much against relocation of the Montreal Expos to DC, and at one point said, "There are no real baseball fans in DC."

"For Washington fans, the Orioles store on Farragut Square is a symbol, an emblem of all the years that we had no team and the Orioles did all they could to keep it that way," Colin Mills, president of the Nats Fan Club, said in an e-mail reply to a Sun query. "It's as if the British, after losing the revolution, had kept a royal office open in downtown Boston." (The Baltimore Sun)

"Our hope was to come to an agreement with the JPA before the end of the season," A's owner Lew Wolff said in a statement.

"The adjustment we offered seemed to me to be equitable and, in my mind, did not require months of delay. We will expect the JPA to honor the current agreement just as we have over the years, and continue to focus on finding another baseball-only venue in Alameda County."

The A's, who share the Coliseum with the NFL's Oakland Raiders, have been searching for a suitable location and funding for a new stadium for several years, branching their efforts into the surrounding area after locating no suitable sites in Oakland.

Recently, Wolff said that San Jose is not a relocation option for the A's given the territorial alignment that has the Giants controlling that county. Instead, Wolff has been in negotiations with Cisco Systems for 194 acres of land in Fremont that would allow Wolff to develop a Ballpark Villiage along with a new stadium.

Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Bill Bavasi announced today that Mariners bench coach Ron Hassey and Mariners administrative coach Dan Rohn are no longer members of the Major League coaching staff.

Hassey was informed prior to last night's game that the club would not be offering him a contract for the 2007 season. After discussions with Manager Mike Hargrove and Bavasi, Hassey determined it would be in the club's best interest to make the move immediately.

"I have tremendous respect for Ron and am sorry he will not finish out the season with us," Hargrove said. "It was a very difficult decision for him, but Ron believes the team is best served by having an opportunity to make a change immediately, rather than waiting until the offseason to announce this move.

"I very much appreciate all of Ron's hard work over the past two seasons. He is a good man and a good friend, and I wish him all the best in the future."

A series of coin tosses was conducted today by Major League Baseball to determine the sites for various potential two-team tie-breakers that would impact the 2006 postseason.

The site for a one-game tie-breaker to determine the A.L. Central Champion is as follows:

Opponents

Site

DET vs. MIN

Comerica Park, Detroit

DET vs. CWS

U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago

The site for a one-game tie-breaker to determine the A.L. West Champion is as follows:

Opponents

Site

OAK vs. LAA

Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim

The site for a one-game tie-breaker to determine the A.L. Wild Card is as follows:

Opponents

Site

MIN vs. CWS

U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago

The site for a one-game tie-breaker to determine the N.L. Central Champion is as follows:

Opponents

Site

STL vs. CIN

Busch Stadium, St. Louis

The site for a one-game tie-breaker to determine the N.L. West Champion is as follows:

Opponents

Site

LA vs. SD

Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

LA vs. SF

Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

The site for a one-game tie-breaker to determine the N.L. Wild Card is as follows:

Opponents

Site

SD vs. FLA

PETCO Park, San Diego

SD vs. PHI

Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

SD vs. SF

PETCO Park, San Diego

SD vs. CIN

PETCO Park, San Diego

SD vs. HOU

Minute Maid Park, Houston

FLA vs. PHI

Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

FLA vs. SF

AT&T Park, San Francisco

FLA vs. CIN

Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

FLA vs. HOU

Dolphin Stadium, Florida

PHI vs. SF

AT&T Park, San Francisco

PHI vs. CIN

Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

PHI vs. HOU

Minute Maid Park, Houston

SF vs. CIN

Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

SF vs. HOU

Minute Maid Park, Houston

CIN vs. HOU

Minute Maid Park, Houston

If two clubs from the same division are tied but both are assured of participating in the postseason, then the first tie-breaker to determine which club is the Division Champion and which club is the Wild Card would be their 2006 season-series record.

As a point of clarification, if three clubs finish the season with the same winning percentage and one team will be a division winner and another will be the Wild Card, the games will be played as follows:

• The two teams tied for the division lead will play the one-game tie-breaker, with the winner being declared the division champion.

• The losing team will then play the club from the other division for the Wild Card.

A tie-breaker game would be played on Monday, October 2nd and TBS and ESPN Radio would provide national coverage. In the event of simultaneous or overlapping tie-breaker games, TNT would provide national coverage.

Additional coin tosses will be held if they become necessary over the rest of the 2006 season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced that the team has entered into a six-year partnership agreement with the Pittsburgh area Lexus Dealers. The agreement calls for the premium seating area formally known as the Home Plate Club to be renamed "Lexus Club at PNC Park" through the 2011 season.

This premium seating area that consists of 403 seats located behind home plate is the most exclusive club in PNC Park and one the Pirates took extreme care in selecting a partner with the same commitment to customer satisfaction, according to Tim Schuldt, Pirates Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Broadcasting.

"We were approached by numerous luxury brands about a partnership involving this exclusive area of our ballpark. However, it was very important that we chose the right partner whose brand conveys the first class experience the club delivers," said Schuldt. "That is why we are very pleased to partner with one of the world's finest brands in Lexus to enhance the fan offering in the new Lexus Club at PNC Park."

The Arizona Diamondbacks today announced that Rich Dozer, who was named the club's President when Major League Baseball awarded Arizona an expansion baseball franchise on March 9, 1995, has resigned and that Derrick Hall has been named to succeed him as President. Dozer and Hall will work together during a transitional period this month prior to Dozer being available to the team as an organizational consultant starting October 1.

During his 11 1/2-year tenure with the club, Dozer helped lead the organization that became the youngest expansion franchise to win a championship by doing so in just their fourth season of play after defeating the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series. Dozer spent eight seasons with the Phoenix Suns prior to working for the Diamondbacks, joining the NBA franchise in July 1987 as business manager and eventually ascending to Vice President and Chief Operating Officer by June 1989. He also served as President of the America West Arena and was intimately involved in the facility's development. The former Certified Public Accountant also specialized as an audit manager for clients in sports, hospitality and retail industries.

Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, the San Francisco Chronicle reporters, and authors of the book, Game of Shadows, have reached a deal with federal prosecuters, allowing them to appeal U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White's Aug. 15 court order allowing them time before they might serve jail time over refusal to release the name or names of those that leaked grand jury testimony to them during the BALCO hearings.

The pair have said they would go to jail rather than comply with the grand jury's subpoena and reveal their source or sources. They are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to toss White's order.

The two reporters published a series of articles and a book based partly on transcripts of the testimony Bonds, Jason Giambi and others gave to a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a Burlingame-based nutritional supplement company exposed as a steroid ring.

Authorities want to charge whoever unlawfully leaked the transcripts, and told Judge White the reporters are the only ones who know who did.

As Judge White has said in the past that his hands are tied in the matter citing a 1972 Supreme Court precedent that states that no one is above the law, including reporters when grand jury testimony is leaked.